Twenty-eight

Helping Quatre

      Having that sore spot on his neck came in extremely helpful I noticed. As the day progressed I used it more and more often.
      As Quatre’d said, the others were pissed at all three of us.
      Heero, for the time being, didn’t care about their niceties and said what he would when he wanted to...that had caused some tense moments...I ended up manipulating him back into the room off and on so he could do no lasting damage.
      They’d all seemed to accept that we were close to amends, so didn’t really react much to me kissing his throat...or mouth...maybe they just knew what I was doing. The bruises were a bit obvious, and the lip too...it kept bleeding...especially when I’d linger there...
      Heero was having a hard time keeping me back, especially when he was in a chair and I was straddling his lap. If he wasn’t annoying them, though, they tended to forget he existed...and it was obvious that Trowa was annoyed with him...if he even raised his voice to me Trowa would ask if I wanted to go somewhere else...in a spiteful way...as if Heero weren’t there. Needless to say, Heero was getting pissed at him.
      We continued to get annoyed with each other periodically for the majority of the day, and I ended up being glad for the every other day party schedule...so was Quatre.
      Around seven he showed up at the room again, looking a bit worse for wear, “Can you help?” he asked me, and I could tell this wasn’t his day.
      “Help what?” I asked, surprised.
      “I have no secretary...this place is turning into a living nightmare...” he was obviously going over things in his head and deciding not to say them, instead, he shook his head, “Please?”
      I stood and followed him, Heero following me.
      He basically tossed his lap-top to me, collapsing onto the couch as we entered his room.
      I sat down beside him, looking at the screen.
      “Where’s the problem?” he asked, staring at it without actually seeing it.
      Heero sat beside me, since people were mad at us, we only had ourselves for company, and we’d been talking all day.
      Now he also stared blankly at the screen, running his hand along my thigh absently.
      That made it a bit hard to focus.
      “Will you be okay in here?” Quatre asked, hesitating to move.
      I nodded, “We’ll be fine...”
      He sighed, “You should have said no. That way I would have motivation to stay here...”
      I grinned at him, “I know you’re number. If I need anything, I’ll call.”
      He gave me a mock snotty look, “I’ll call...” he mimicked.
      “It need’s to be checked in here too...” Heero muttered, looking around.
      “What?” Quatre and I asked in unison.
      Heero looked at us and I could see the near sly look in his eyes, “The echo.” he replied innocently.
      I grinned at him, smacking him slightly where no bruises were and he laughed.
      “What?” Quatre asked again with more emphasis.
      “Nothing...” Heero replied, laughing, “Inside joke...”
      Quatre rolled his eyes, standing, “I’ll be back...” he set his shoulders and started for the door.
      “I’ll call you in a while so you can be done for the day.” I told him as he reached the door.
      He gave me an appreciative smile, “Thanks...”
      I nodded and he left, shutting the door behind himself.
      Heero’s hand was really distracting...and it wasn’t that I wanted him to stop...but I needed to focus...
      “Stop...” I told him, flicking my leg.
      He was surprised, but removed his hand...for a while. He wasn’t even thinking about it, though, so he kept doing it...
      Sam, Kris, and Kat came in and sat around us, talking amongst themselves and trying to draw me into the conversation.
      I knew them well enough, though, to realize that they didn’t really care if I joined in or not, they just didn’t care. After a while they gave up with that and focused on Heero, who joined their avid conversation without being fooled.
      I remembered my promise to call Quatre about two hours later and pulled out my phone.
      “Who you calling?” Sam asked.
      For some reason, that was really annoying, “No one you should be concerned about...” I thought about that a second, “Wait...you want to fuck him...”
      “Tcch...” she was also annoyed.
      I smiled at her, “Tell me I’m lying...and mean it.” I added as she opened her mouth.
      She started to ignore me again.
      Quatre looked relieved when he finally came in, “Thank you so much!” he leaned over and kissed me soundly, full on the lips...I felt mischievous. I returned the kiss... which didn’t bother him at all. He didn’t seem to have any intentions of stopping.
      I laughed, pulling away, “Now that’s an interesting way to show thanks...not that it bothers me, mind you...” I trailed off, grinning.
      Quatre was grinning in a nearly self-satisfied way.
      “He has a split lip, too.” Heero informed me, “If he does it again, show him what you’ve been doing to me all day...”
      I laughed again, looking at him out of the corner of my eyes, “We’ll see...”
      Quatre laughed and collapsed onto the couch again, “No, I think I’ll pass...I just wanted to see what you’d do...”
      Sam was very upset with me after that...and Heero wouldn’t stop with the leg thing...which often times caused me to lose a line of thought...
      “Would you quit!” I demanded of him finally, pulling my leg away...not far enough to move his hand, but enough to stop it.
      He blinked at me, surprised, “What?”
      I sighed, relaxing back, “That’s really distracting...” I informed him in a more subtle tone. I didn’t want him to think I was getting mad at him again.
      He looked at his hand and grinned at me...a very naughty grin.
      “Don’t you dare.” I told him, a bit amused. It wasn’t that I was adverse to it, but I was trying to help Quatre.
      He considered it a while, but something caught his attention and he looked to the side quickly, then glanced at his watch, “It’s going on ten. I think you can stop working now.”
      Quatre shifted suddenly and I realized he’d fallen asleep. He stared at me a second, thinking, “Oh my God! I’m sorry...” he grabbed the lap-top, looking at the screen. He moved through some of the information and looked at me, his face disbelieving, “You fixed it...”
      I nodded, slightly confused, “You asked me to.”
      He looked at it again, then back at me, “In three hours...”
      I nodded, “I would’ve finished it sooner, but I was being distracted...” I gestured to Heero with my head and he grinned at his friend, winking.
      “I was working on that all day!” he protested, “How did you fix it in three hours?”
      I looked to Heero, then to Sam, “You did all the work...I just did the editing...”
      “You make me sick.” he informed me.
      I laughed at him, “You could have asked me to help a long time ago and I’d have done it all for you...”
      “That’s just disgusting...” he was staring at the screen.
      “Care to explain that?”
      He looked at me a second, “That would have taken me all day tomorrow...”
      “Do you have a problem that I did it for you?”
      He smiled, “Only my chauvinist side coming out to play...” he winked.
      I laughed, “So girls aren’t supposed to be able to do what you can do?”
      His grin turned mischievous and he took a breath in to reply.
      “Don’t answer that.” Heero advised him, “She can twist words into unimaginable shapes...”
      Quatre made a face and saved the work I’d done, “No, not really, just my pride.” he shook his head.
      I nodded, understanding.
      “I’m sorry...” he went on, “I forgot about the time...”
      I shrugged, “It was amusing. I wasn’t waiting for you to give me the okay to stop.”
      He looked at me, “Do you want to get paid for that or not?”
      I was surprised.
      He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I’m going to ask an expert to help me without any money involved...”
      “For three hours?”
      He grinned, “Well, I was hoping you’d help tomorrow morning too...” he gave me puppy dog eyes.
      I laughed at him, “As long as you don’t start treating me like an employee...”
      He grinned, “Like that would work. You’d laugh your ass off at me and leave.”
      I thought about what he’d said, “Morning?”
      He made a face, “I have a meeting to go to. I’m not suffering through it alone... and besides, this way the people will start to recognize you...”
      “Recognize her?” Heero asked.
      Quatre nodded, looking at him, “If she works for me they’ll need to know her.”
      “Oh...yippee...” I said with a fantastic lack of enthusiasm, “Brown-nosers are so fun...”
      He smiled at me, then winked, “I can make it worth it...”
      I rose both eyebrows at him, “Really...how so?”
      His eyes got that naughty cast again.
      “I’m hungry.” Heero informed us before he could reply.
      Quatre glanced at him, then at me, “Didn’t you order dinner?”
      I shook my head, “I was busy and he was visiting La-La land.”
      Quatre shook his head, “You make me feel bad...”
      I winked and he rolled his eyes, starting to talk to Sam. I shifted so I lay against Heero and relaxed...
      “You’re a pain in my ass.” Heero informed someone in an annoyed voice.
      I woke up, instantly noticing that Wufei was standing a ways away, and by the look on his face, he’d said something to Heero.
      “At least I don’t make my friends call for help.” Wufei replied.
      “She wasn’t calling for help. She was calling so she could leave...”
      “To see me...”
      That woke me a bit more and I realized we were back in my room, I sat up some.
      Everyone was in here... “What’s going on...” I muttered.
      “You’re new toy doesn’t realize he’s been shelved...”
      I sat up more, blinking, looking at the clock. Midnight.
      “So you woke me up?”
      He rolled his eyes, “No, Asshole did...”
      “No you didn’t.” Sam said, “Wufei did...”
      “Shut-up, Sam. No one asked you.”
      “Heero...” I muttered, arguing with her wouldn’t help anything. “So who’s arguing with who about what?”
      “Wufei here got a bit tipsy earlier and decided you were still fair game.” Heero informed me, gesturing to the too pompous looking pilot.
      I gave Heero a look, “I still am.”
      Heero frowned at me.
      I turned to Wufei, “What’s up?”
      He grinned and I realized that ‘a bit tipsy’ would be better described as barely standing, “Guess...”
      I rolled my eyes, “It’s bed-time, Gentlemen. Go away.”
      “All of us?” Duo asked carefully, looking at Heero.
      “We’re sleeping in our own rooms tonight.” I informed them, “No more sleep-overs...”
      “Shut-up, Nikki.” Sam told me, her tone no longer tolerant.
      I looked at her, completely shocked.
      “You’re the one who called for a sleep-over.”
      Something told me not to respond to her...she was mad at me for any number of reasons...and I doubted any of them really came from last-night.
      When I held my peace, her look became slightly surprised and she looked around at everyone. “Are you feeling all right?” she asked me finally.
      I nodded, “I’m a bit tired, but fine otherwise. Good night.” I turned my back to the room and pulled the covers up around me.
      “She’s right.” Quatre agreed, “We have to get up for that meeting...so...I’m going to bed too. Coming, Sam?”
      She was quiet a second, then I could hear her stand, “Good night.” I told her as the door opened.
      She said something that was supposed to be good night, but came out a pouty mumble. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as the door shut.
      Within ten minutes everyone was gone and the lights were out.
      “One question.” Heero told me in a voice that instantly caught my attention.
      “Hmm?”
      “Are you really all that tired?” he said it fast, as if embarrassed or something.
      I rolled over and looked at him.
      He looked away, shrugging, “I was just wondering...”
      I watched him a moment until he finally met my eyes again, “I’m not as tired as you might imagine...”

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Kyeian